The voice became very impatient with her and pulled her closer with a clap of his own hands. Joy could feel the ground tumbling beneath her, bringing her into the light, where she would meet, the Healer.

      Joy scanned over the room that she was suddenly in. It was a cold and lonely building. There were no other people here, and the only things she could hear were screaming souls and the weeping dead. The ceiling had paintings of the dead and seemed to be moving and was too high, almost as if it were for a giant to hang out. The place just crawled though her skin, making her cringe in disgust.

      "Bring him here."

      Before her, stood a man, lean and tall. His eyes looked as if he were sleepy but gave off a soft feeling. Scanning over him, Joy could see that he was dressed as if he were in a cult: the long, black drap, and no shoes. She almost felt like laughing, but bit the corner of as she remembered what KyungSoo had advised her to do.

      "SuHo, SuHo. What did you do this time?" sighing, he raising his hand and a bed floated over from within the walls, "So, what's your name?"

      "J-Joy."

      Becoming silent now, Joy watched as he turned SuHo over to examine his scar. From where she stood, there were a few small scratches traveling down from the top of the shoulder blade and down the rest of his back. Following, an inscription seemed to be carved but she couldn't read it well.

      "Lay."

      "Huh?"

      "My name is Lay, KyungSoo should have at least told you that."

      "H-He only said you were the Healer.." Joy stuttered from the fear that crept through her spine, "A-And.. th-that you're.. the most e-evil.."

      As is he were acknowledging himself, Lay laughed to himself as he glided his hand over SuHo's body, "That's right."

      "What does he mean.. by most evil?"

      "KyungSoo used to have a messenger like you, she was very...timid. Every time she would visit me, she never did her job correctly. I guess I scared her too much but I got fed up with her act."

      "W-what did you do then..?"

      Finally meeting her eyes, Lay smiled maliciously, "I ripped her body apart. Tore every limb off, healed her, and repeated the process. I did that every day until she became strong."

      Joy's hands curled into small fists as she imagined how horrible it must have been. How could that possibly make her strong?

      "But don't worry, I won't do that to you." he scanned her from head to toe, "You seem like you're not afraid."

      "I am."

      "I like honesty." he nodded, "Soon, this will just become a job for you and you won't be scared."

      Joy didn't respond to him but she watched as SuHo stirred underneath Lay's healing hand. He looked as if he were at peace but she could tell that the scar was bubbling, as if it were set on fire.

      Curiously, Joy came a little closer to the bed, "Where did he get the scar from..?"

      "The one who pretends to be Wendy's brother."

      "The ruler of Hell? KyungSoo?"

      "This scar is given to people's lives he's saved. They receive powers after a long time, in order to help KyungSoo around. He himself has the power of Earth, the strongest one, and he can control any other power. But he distributed these powers among the HU's, so together, they become immortal."

      Silence caught Joy as she absorbed the information being given to her. It was amazing, to her, that the Devil was capable of such things.

      "I'm sure that if you check one of Wendy's shoulders, she'll have the same scar. Any of the HU's have it."

      "But Wendy's not an HU.. is she?"

      Shaking his head, Lay whispered into her ear, "KyungSoo wants to make Wendy the Queen of Hell. You see, she has a certain power he doesn't have."

      "W-what is that power?"

      "It's-"

      Tao burst through the door and ran towards Joy, tearing her away from Lay. Glaring at him, Tao almost used his extra power on Lay but thought better of it.

      "Did you do anything?"

      "She's intact, don't you see?" Lay laughed as he pat Tao on the shoulder, "I feel sorry for you."

      "What do you mean by that?"

      "You still have your human feelings and that isn't a good thing." Lay finished healing SuHo and turned his attention back to Joy, "You're already so attached to a girl like her."

      Tao could feel his anger rising, "So what if I have my human feelings? I want them to stay!"

      "And if or when that girl dies, what will you do? Wallow in tears? Or, even kill yourself?"

      "I'll think of it when that happens."

      Lay shook his head, "You're pathetic."

      Taking Joy's hand into his own, Tao turned towards the door to leave. He could understand why it was bad to have these feelings but after years of trying to dispose of them, he found that keeping them will make him feel alive.

      "Too bad KyungSoo won't let me tear you apart.." Lay called after him, "You should be grateful to our God."

      Tao swallowed the fear that started to rise and transported Joy and himself back to the human world. He knew that Lay was right for he didn't treat KyungSoo very well even though he saved his life... and was still protecting him.

      "So, that means the HU's were once human beings?"

      KyungSoo put his finger on Wendy's lips, "We don't speak of their pasts."

      Wendy looked over to Kai who was covering his ears. He looked as if he were in pain from remembering and that made her feel sorry. If only she didn't bring it up. KyungSoo brought his lips close to Wendy's ear;

      "If they try to hard to remember, one by one, they'll disappear.. and we don't want that, do we?"

      Wendy slowly shook her head.

      "Tao should be back-"

      Joy and Tao fell onto the couch where Wendy was resting. As soon as they saw each other, the two girls cried in their embrace. Tao hit his back on the edge of the couch and lay painfully on the floor. KyungSoo felt his anger rising once more;

      KyungSoo held Tao neck and carried him up with one arm, "What kind of entrance was that? What was all that training for?"

      "I-I'm sorry!" Tao struggled to free himself from his master's grip, "I-I was just so angry at Lay-"

      "I told you before to never let your feelings get in the way of anything that you do!" KyungSoo threw him onto the ground, "If you keep letting them interfere with your powers, you'll be unable to use them. If that happens, you won't have the ability to protect Joy, not even with other power."

      Tao quickly got onto his knees and bowed to KyungSoo, "I was wrong. I'm sorry."

      "Keep in mind that you're only alive because we made a contract. One power comes from me. The extra comes from your human side. That's why I won't let Lay rip you to shreds. That's why I protect you." KyungSoo lowered his voice as he began to calm down, "If I don't, you'll disappear, do you understand?"

      "Yes, sir."

      "Good."

      Wendy hid Joy's face from the violence that was happening in their home. Wherever Irene was, Wendy hoped that she wouldn't hear any of this. She didn't want her friend to be scared, too.

      Though she did not know that from the top of the staircase, Irene was listening intently. As her face went sour, she could feel herself going faint. This was too much to take in. It was all too unbelievable. It was as if they were reading off a script but she knew better.

      "I have to find out for myself."

Author's Note

Thanks so much for the subs and upvotes! I love my pistachios! I start my job on Monday, as I’ve said before, and I’m not too nervous about it. Do you all have jobs? Or do you not? Let me know! :) Also, I’ve been contemplating on whether or not I want this to be more than twenty chapters or not… but we’ll see! If I feel good about the story, it’ll progress from there! Hehe, <3.

감사! ♥